vegetarian – Subjects to change

Whats the Point???

Covid is running rampant, cupcakes are delicious, beer is cold and in the end when your only promised death and taxes does it really matter if you eat that third slice of pizza. In the grand scheme of things one days worth of decisions doesn’t really add up to much or does it?

We as human beings are the sum collective of all of our life experiences and what we do today, tomorrow and the next day will have a profound impact on who we become a couple of years down the road.

Sure our genetics have some impact on our overall health but its a lot less than most people think. According to the National Institute of Health – https://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/primer/traits/longevity Our genetic make up accounts for 25% of our overall health. Leaving us in charge of the other 75% of how our life plays out. I’m not sure about you but I really like those odds.

With that being said If there is another constant in life we can count on its this, LIFE ISN’T FAIR. Not even a little bit most of the time. I had a coworker that ate healthy, exercised like crazy and fought and ultimately lost his 8 year battle with cancer a year and a half ago. It sucked really bad to lose him but there is no doubt in my mind that the way he lived and ate had a profound effect on his quality of life and why he fought as long as he did.

So whats the point when healthy people die suddenly of heart attacks and people who eat McDonalds and smoke a pack of cigarettes a day live to 100? LIFE ISN’T FAIR, some times you get pocket aces and the professional poker player gets double 2’s and he walks away with all of your cash.

I’m not a doctor or a dietitian so all of my advice is anecdotal and I surely hope that you don’t walk into your kitchen after reading this and throw out all your junk food, that isn’t the best way to make a long term change.

What I am advocating for is a slow and steady change to our diets and exercise routine. My mom has a few things that I’ve heard her say a couple of hundred times in my life and one of the best goes like this. “How do you eat an elephant, Brian? One bite at a time! (Thanks mom, I’ve been listening all these years. Love you) When your 8 and trying to write a book report its a little annoying but now its become one of my favorite mantras.

Falling back to the Exercise is where you find it post – https://subjects2change.food.blog/2020/04/13/exercise-is-where-you-find-it/ You will remember that we need to go from 0-10 before we start thinking about whats happening around level 90-100. There we go again how do we get back in shape, one bite at a time.

Call To Action

All things considered the decisions we make today, tomorrow and the next day add up and we can take “control” of our health. You wont see or feel the changes today, tomorrow or the next day but if you remember what my mom always says you will see and more importantly your doctor will notice at your next physical.

We are living to an average age of 78.7 years in America and that number has decreased over the past two years for men. The sadder fact is that we are also losing independent quality of life on top of that, this means we are living shorter and less healthy lives.

I’ve always thought the point of life was to live a long and healthy life so that you can continue to have an impact on the people who need you the most, and that seems like a pretty good point to me.

Curry red lentil Soup…

Maybe for once we can get right down to business on one of these recipes.

1 large onion diced
1 TBS olive oil
1 can of fire roasted diced tomatoes
1 “thumb” sized piece of ginger grated
3-4 cloves of garlic grated.
1 1/2 quarts of vegetable stock.
10z red lentils
1/2 brick of frozen chopped spinach
1 tbs ginger powder
1 1/2 tbs granulated garlic
1 can coconut milk

In a large soup pot or dutch oven heat the olive oil over medium heat and add your diced onion. cook for 4-5 minutes stirring often, we are looking for the onions to turn translucent. Add the whole can of diced tomatoes, be sure to use the juice as well, cook for an additional 2-3 minutes. Finely mince or use a micro plane to grate the ginger and garlic into the onion and tomato mixture, cook for another 2-3 minutes. Add the Vegetable stock and the lentils and cook for 40-45 minutes on a medium simmer or until the lentils are tender and starting to fall apart. You may need to add a little extra stock in the cooking process to keep the soup from getting to thick. You will need to stir the soup every couple of minutes to keep the lentils from sticking. In the last 10 minutes of the cooking process add the frozen spinach and allow it to come up to temperature. Add the granulated garlic and ginger at this stage along with the can of coconut milk. Once you add the coconut milk lower the burner to low and you can serve right away or let it sit at that temperature for 20-20 minutes.

Before service taste the soup and adjust seasoning to preference. I often serve ours with a drizzle of sriracha, a squeeze of fresh lime juice or some minced fresh cilantro.

Veggies!! Its whats for dinner.

It drives me crazy when you’re looking for dinner ideas on the interwebs and you see something that looks good and then it turns into this… It all started one summer day when I was at the farmers market and I saw the most amazing free range, organic heirloom tomato, blah blah blah so on and so forth. Five page later your not sure if you are reading a novel or a recipe.

Thanks for letting me get that off my chest. To start with I’m not a chef or a dietitian but I am very passionate about cooking and putting a healthy meal on the table for my family. With that being said taste as you go and if you think it needs a little more of one thing and a little less of another feel free to get creative. This dish is well suited to adding and omitting veggies that you have on hand. For instance I had a half bag of frozen cubed butternut squash hanging out in the freezer, so in it went.

Roasted Eggplant and Veggie “Lasagna“

2 large or 4 small eggplants

3 yellow squash, 3 zucchini, 2 medium red onions.

1tbs olive oil

2 cans 16oz tomato pulp, preferably something that is already seasoned with garlic and basil (Crushed tomatoes can also work.)

1 can fire roasted tomatoes, drain off the liquid

5 cloves of garlic minced

2tbs garlic powder

2tbs italian seasoning

1 tbs fennel seeds

1/2 bag of frozen butternut squash

1 brick of frozen spinach

9z* of whole wheat pasta in your favorite shape. * dry measurement, before cooking

1/2 cup panko bread crumbs

1/2 cup almonds

optional items

1/2 cup of goat cheese

1/4 fresh shredded Parmesan cheese

step one. With a paring knife prick the skin on the eggplants a few times and place on a baking sheet in the oven at 375 degrees for 30-40 minutes depending on size. you are looking for them to have a tight skin but soft and tender on the inside. You can step up your game on this and cook them on your grill, just set them on the grate away from indirect heat. transfer to a large mixing bowl and cover with a plate or film wrap and allow to steam until cool.

step two. dice your yellow squash, zucchini and slice the onions into bite sized pieces. over a medium high heat add the olive oil and the veggies and saute the veggies for 7-10 minutes or until tender and lightly browned, keep the veggies moving pretty consistently. Add the minced garlic and cook for 1 minute. lower the heat to medium low and add the two cans of tomato pulp, 1 can of diced tomatoes, (liquid drained off) frozen spinach and the butternut squash. cook on the stove top for at least ten minutes or until the sauce begins to thicken. Once cooled take the skin off of your eggplants and transfer the “meat” to the sauce. Add the Italian seasoning, garlic powder and fennel seeds and cook for a few more minutes.

While the sauce is cooking bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta to about 75% fully cooked and drain off the liquid. I’ve used penne, cavatapi and rustichine aka mini lasagna noodles in past iterations of this dish and they have all come out great.

assembly. In a 13×9 oven proof casserole add a few spoonfuls of the veggie mixture. top that with half of your cooked pasta. If your cool with dairy this is where I would sprinkle on the goat cheese, vegan cheese is cool here as well if you wish. The next layers are as follows, Tomato veggie mixture, pasta, and then the remaining tomato veggie mixture. From here you can transfer directly to the oven and bake or for better results let it hang out for a couple of hours or overnight to let all the flavors enhance.

Before baking take the 1/2 cup of almonds and crush them, you can use a food processor for this but I prefer the hammer method. Put the almonds in a bag wrap it in a towel and go to town releasing some of the days pent up aggression. Mix the crushed almonds and panko together in a bowl.

Place in the center of a preheated 375 degree oven and bake until bubbling and heated through. cooking time will vary on the initial starting temp of your lasagna but should be anywhere from 20-40 minutes to cook through. Half way through the cooking process sprinkle over the panko and almond mixture. In the last few minutes of baking you can add the shredded Parmesan cheese and give it enough time to melt. For best plate presentation allow to sit out for about 10 minutes before cutting and serving. Ideally this would be served with some kind of spring mix or kale salad with lots of fruits, veggies, seeds and nuts for added flavor and texture.

Is this veggie lasagna as good as Nona Maria’s classic meat and cheese laden lasagna? I think they are pretty close, but one things for certain you cold eat 2-3 times the potion size and probably still come out ahead when it comes to calories consumed.